Australian women's national team captain Sam Kerr denied that calling a police officer "white" was intended as an insult while being questioned during her trial for alleged racially aggravated harassment. Kerr insisted that her remarks at the time were not racially motivated, but rather a response to the police's actions.
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03-19, 2025Kerr testified on the fourth day of the trial at Kingston Crown Court, a case stemming from an incident in London on January 30, 2023. It is alleged that Kerr and her partner, West Ham United midfielder Kristie Mewis, went to the police station in a taxi after a night out drinking. The taxi driver complained that they refused to pay the cleaning fee because one of them had vomited in the car, and one of them smashed the vehicle's rear window.
Kerr stated that she felt "trapped" in the taxi and feared for her safety. At the police station, Kerr allegedly verbally abused Constable Stephen Lovell and called him "stupid and white." Kerr admitted to making the remarks, but denied that the remarks constituted the crime with which she is charged.
Prosecutors questioned Kerr about whether she used Lovell's "whiteness as an insult" during a heated argument with the police officer. Kerr replied, "No, I did not mean that." Kerr added that she believed Lovell was abusing his power and privilege to accuse her when she had done nothing wrong. "What I was trying to articulate was that, because of the power and privilege they hold, they could never understand what we had just been through and the fear for our lives."
When asked if she thought Lovell was "stupid because he was white," Kerr replied, "No." The court previously heard that Kerr told police "this is a race... thing." When questioned about these comments, Kerr said, "I think (they) treated me differently because of what they perceived my skin color to be—particularly the way Constable Lovell acted." She added, "(It was) the way he was responding to me, interrupting me, the way he was calling my name, and his dismissive attitude." Kerr also claimed that her perception was influenced by the different way the officers treated her and Mewis.
